The past of the Zhe family was like layer upon layer of mountains, weighing down so heavily that Zhe Qing could not lift her head.
Lu Tang remained very calm, watching Zhe Qing’s tearful expression. Yet in that handwritten manuscript, the past of the Zhe family was never once mentioned.
Was it because she didn’t dare write it down?
Lu Tang was no longer a child, nor was she an ordinary person. She had walked out of a roaring fire, reborn from the ashes; what she saw and thought differed entirely from ordinary people.
She probed, “Why did Grand Tutor Lin adopt you?”
What role did Lin Huaijin play in all of this?
Her gaze fixed on Zhe Qing’s unyielding, straight spine. Like lush green bamboo standing tall against the wind that refused to bend, standing firm against the rain that failed to break it, she would rather snap than bend.
In the end, Zhe Qing truly managed to remain unbending to the very end.
Zhe Qing sat at the doorway. The golden sunlight slanted across the veranda, forming a curtain of light that enveloped her tightly.
She stood in a place of brilliance, like frost and snow.
Clad in a moon-white dress, she looked like bright moonlight. This scene fell right into Lu Tang’s eyes.
She turned around, her eyes tinged with the wind and frost of the world, graceful and elegant.
Lu Tang offered her a faint smile.
Dazed and sluggishly, Zhe Qing spoke: “Afterwards, the entire Zhe family was executed. It was Teacher who traded her position as Chancellor to keep me alive.”
“Very well, let me ask you another question: What is the relationship between Teacher Gu and Grand Tutor Lin?” Lu Tang rested her chin in her hands, gazing fixedly at Zhe Qing.
Zhe Qing replied: “Former lovers whose romance collapsed because of the Zhe family incident.”
“Wasn’t it because she sent Princess Yuncheng to a Daoist temple that their romance collapsed?” Lu Tang pointed out.
She continued, “I’m guessing it was like this: the Empress of that time feared Princess Yuncheng and imprisoned her in a Daoist temple, but she promoted Grand Tutor Lin. Teacher Gu felt displeased in her heart, and the two grew estranged. Just as the Zhe family incident happened, the lingering affection between Teacher Gu and Grand Tutor Lin was completely worn away. To protect her own reputation, Grand Tutor Lin had no choice but to relinquish her position as Chancellor and adopt you.”
“You were merely a step in her reclamation of a pristine reputation.”
She raised an eyebrow. Truth be told, there was another sentence left unsaid: You were merely a chess piece she used to control the imperial court.
Zhe Qing looked at her, and the young woman curved her lips into a smile: “What is a person’s bottom line? As I said, I come from a later age, and I have read historical records. Everyone says Lin Huaijin was a virtuous minister who executed corrupt officials, rectified the court ethics, severed all ties of kinship, and was completely upright. If she were truly such a person, Teacher Gu was right here in the capital, why didn’t she ever go see her?”
“Chancellor Zhe, I have only one puzzle: why did Teacher Gu cut off all contact with her until the day they died?”
In truth, historical records did not contain the name Gu Siwai at all, but Lin Huaijin’s name had been passed down through the ages.
Executing corrupt officials, rectifying court ethics, cutting down corrupted policies.
Such a person felt like a dream. Lu Tang had once sneered, human beings could not be flawless, yet Lin Huaijin was depicted as entirely flawless.
She continued, “Chancellor Zhe, a seamless heavenly garment. Why is a heavenly garment seamless, while mortal garments have seams? The truth is right before your eyes. Why won’t you ask Teacher Gu why she completely severed all ties with your adoptive mother and mentor until the day they died?”
Zhe Qing couldn’t answer. She had always thought it was because of Princess Yuncheng.
Lu Tang handed her a handkerchief. Zhe Qing raised her head, her face covered in tears.
As Zhe Qing unfolded the handkerchief, a small object suddenly slipped out. She looked down, and it spun around like a rolling wheel twice,
finally stopping right by the doorway. Ji Yao bent down, picked it up, and squinted at it in the air. “Oh, it’s a ring! Lady Lu, are you planning to give this to the Chancellor?”
Lu Tang: “…”
Ji Yao handed the ring to Zhe Qing. Zhe Qing had tear tracks on her face and was unwilling to let her see them, so she turned her head away.
“She’s shy,” Ji Yao muttered to herself, casually slipping the ring onto Zhe Qing’s ring finger and letting out an exclamation of surprise: “It actually fits quite well.”
With that, she looked at Lu Tang: “Shall I call a carriage to send you home?”
Lu Tang stared at her, deeply displeased, and said, “I’m going to go see Teacher Gu.”
“Lu Tang,” Zhe Qing suddenly called out.
Lu Tang looked at her, seemingly understanding her thoughts, and joked, “I’m going to look for the answers in my heart, Chancellor Zhe.”
Ji Yao looked at Lu Tang, then back at Zhe Qing: “What kind of riddles are the two of you speaking?”
Yet Zhe Qing said, “What’s the use of asking? What meaning is left? I won’t, for the sake of people who have already died—”
“No, kindness is kindness, and hatred is hatred. I don’t think they should be lumped together. Without hatred, where does kindness even come from?” Lu Tang refuted her words, then turned her gaze to Ji Yao: “Aunt, do you know why Teacher Gu completely cut off all contact with the Grand Tutor until the day they died?”
“Hey, you meddle in quite a lot of affairs! What business is it of yours?” Ji Yao put her hands on her hips and glared angrily at the young woman. “You, someone raised by the Xiao family, sticking your nose into this, are you tired of living?”
Lu Tang chuckled, her lips red and teeth white, water shimmering in her eyes: “I’m guessing Grand Tutor Lin had something to do with the Zhe family’s tragedy, am I right?”
“Shut your mouth!” Ji Yao suddenly flared up in anger.
Lu Tang pouted, reached out to tug at Zhe Qing’s hand, her fingertips brushing across her wrist, causing Zhe Qing to startle and shudder.
An inexplicable sense of familiarity struck her brain, so embarrassing that it made Zhe Qing sit up straight as she looked at Lu Tang.
Lu Tang smiled at her and said, “You have a guilty conscience, oh.”
Ji Yao let out a hiss. Zhe Qing said, “Aunt Ji, I need to have a word with her.”
She lowered her head, gazing at the red jade ring on her ring finger.
Ji Yao walked out,
heading to find Gu Siwai in the bedroom.
She went to complain to Gu Siwai: “I think that Lu Tang is no good. She’s instigating the Chancellor to fall out with you all.”
Gu Siwai was lying on a recliner, listening to the creaking sound of the chair rocking back and forth. She had a habit of taking a nap, and drowsiness was just washing over her.
After listening in silence for a long time, she murmured, “A-zhe has grown up and holds a high position. Whatever she wants to do, none of us can stop her.”
Gu Yao muttered unhappily, “I figured a girl raised by the Xiao family was bound to have problems.”
Gu Siwai smiled. “Then why did you play matchmaker for them?”
“Wasn’t it because your A-zhe was willing to get close to her?” Gu Yao pulled up a stool and sat down, gazing at the young woman’s haggard face. “Why must you torture yourself like this?”
Gu Siwai closed her eyes. For some reason, Yuncheng’s smile flashed before her eyes, and her heart suddenly tightened.
“It’s not torture. I just think things are fine this way.”
“Life is fine like this; I just don’t want to see her. If I went to see her, how could I face Concubine Zhe and the others?”
Ji Yao sighed repeatedly, and Gu Siwai felt equally helpless. “I don’t see her, and she doesn’t see me, that’s plenty good. And A-zhe is doing well now, too.”
Back then, because of her alone, tens of thousands of soldiers of the Zhe family were implicated. For her to stay alive was the true torture.
If she had gone to marry the foreign tribe back then, none of these things would have happened.
Gu Siwai’s tears couldn’t stop falling: “Lu Tang is a clever girl; she saw right through it. A-zhe knows it in her heart too. As long as Lin Huaijin and I are still alive, A-zhe won’t dare to investigate further. I know she values affection above all else.”
Ji Yao picked up on some hidden details: “Are you planning to bring the two of them together?”
Gu Siwai was grieving, but upon hearing those words, her tears vanished. She looked at her helplessly: “Why are you always obsessed with this matter?”
Ji Yao: “I don’t want to be, either! But she’s twenty-six. You and Lin Huaijin fell out when you were twenty-six, but at least you understood your feelings. What about her?”
Gu Siwai closed her eyes and simply ignored her.
Back in the main room, Lu Tang had just finished eating a “little piglet,” which melted the moment it touched her tongue. She ate another one, nodding repeatedly. “Delicious, ah.”
“Aunt Ji’s culinary skills are exceptional,” Zhe Qing praised, while also gazing at the young woman. “Tell me your story.”
“Me?” Lu Tang wondered. “Didn’t you just say I was a charlatan?”
“Charlatans don’t think the Zhe family was innocent,” Zhe Qing said candidly.
Lu Tang raised her head. Zhe Qing was looking right at her. Their eyes met, Zhe Qing’s gaze was calm and tranquil, while Lu Tang’s expression was filled with bewilderment.
At this moment, it had nothing to do with affection, nothing to do with romance.
Lu Tang suddenly felt as though the person sitting before her was not a mere mortal, but a goddess descending from a century ago.
She handed a pastry to Zhe Qing, picked up a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and said, “If you promise to believe me, I’ll tell you.”
“What is your relationship with Gu Sitang?” Zhe Qing acutely sensed something was amiss. “You just mentioned Gu Sitang’s name earlier, and you even believe the Teacher Gu family is still alive.”
Lu Tang chuckled, her eyes bright, her facial features brimming with vivacity.
Youthful and radiant, with crafty eyes, she looked precisely like a little fox that had stumbled into Zhe Qing’s life.
Zhe Qing didn’t rush her, quietly turning the ring on her ring finger red jade, bright and burning with heat.
Lu Tang pondered for a moment, whereupon Zhe Qing suddenly spoke up: “Think carefully, otherwise I won’t recommend you for an official post.”
Oh ho, this person was actually resorting to threats.
Lu Tang rolled her eyes. Zhe Qing smiled at her, her gaze tranquil. “Think it through before you speak.”
Lu Tang squeezed out a smile. “I, I, I…”
After stuttering “I” for half a day, she couldn’t spit out a single word.
Zhe Qing lowered her head to look at the “little piglets” on the plate, picked one up, placed it in the palm of her hand, looked back at Lu Tang across from her, and then popped the “little piglet” straight into her mouth.
She smiled slightly, the corners of her lips curling up with a trace of mischief.
Lu Tang sensed the mockery. Casting aside her earlier sympathy, she ground her teeth and said, “My physical body is from a hundred years in the future, and my ancestor is Gu Sitang.”
Zhe Qing chewed the “little piglet” slowly, still sticking to that same old rhetoric about coming from a hundred years in the future.
“If you told me Gu Sitang was your father, I might actually believe it.”
Lu Tang reached out and pulled the plate of pastries back toward her. Zhe Qing reached out too, gripping the edge of the plate.
The two of them engaged in a silent tug-of-war.
Zhe Qing sneered, “You played me for a fool, and you still think you’re in the right?”
Lu Tang sneered right back, “I’m telling you the truth, and you refuse to believe it. What does that have to do with me?”
“Utter nonsense! Fooling others is one thing, don’t even think about fooling me.” Zhe Qing’s face chilled.
Lu Tang wanted to curse, but she held it in and said, “Believe it or not, give me back my ring.”
Zhe Qing let go of the plate and reached out to pull off the ring. To her surprise, it wouldn’t come off. She exerted a slight bit of force, pulling until her finger ached, but the ring refused to budge.
Finished.
Lu Tang stared at that hand; the tapering, bamboo-shoot-like fingers were already flushed red, looking rather distressed.
She let out a dry chuckle. “Then convert it into cash and give it to me.”
Zhe Qing looked as if she had just heard a colossal joke. “I have no money.”
Lu Tang slammed the table. “How can you be like this? You don’t return the item, and you won’t give me money either! I gave you gold nuggets that day, you should return those to me along with it.”
“Can a gift given to someone be demanded back?” Zhe Qing felt this person was completely unreasonable, using lies to trick her and then coming back to demand things.
Unreasonable and ignorant.
Lu Tang clenched her fists in anger, her face flushed red, feeling utterly aggrieved in her heart.
Ever since waking up, she had been subjected to endless grievances exploited by the Xiao family members, and upon meeting Zhe Qing, encountering someone completely two-faced.
She clutched her chest, suddenly wanting to take a bite out of her.
She couldn’t win in a fight, couldn’t win in a verbal debate, so she might as well just bite her hand.
Lu Tang was about to be driven insane with rage. She had already told her the truth, so why wouldn’t she believe her? Just a moment ago, she had been showing heartfelt concern and trying to comfort her,
yet the moment they turned around, Zhe Qing started suspecting her again.